Will it rain or won't it?

It's Tuesday morning and the weather is looking like rain. The weather bureau didn't mention it raining this morning in Adelaide, but then I'm not in Adelaide, I'm in Redbanks (I'm glad about that!).

The Bureau did mention possible rain in Adelaide this afternoon, so that possibility is there. We sometimes get rain when it misses Adelaide, and the other way round.

Of course, if it does rain, that means the dogs won't want to be outside. The Pharaoh Hounds don't like getting wet. The Schnauzers have thick coats so the rain drops don't always make it to their skin, they just gather the drops together in their hair so they can share the water with me when they come inside!

It's funny, I've always said Pharaoh Hounds don't like getting wet, but I have a lovely photo sent by Phil, who has a Pharaoh pup from us, Sertar. Sertar is standing in the mighty Murray River and he looks as comfortable as anything. He seems to be looking for fish in the water. Pharaoh Hounds love having things they can chase! It brings meaning to their lives to be able to run and chase and catch.

The Schnauzers will chase things too, but it isn't the main thing in their lives. Schnauzers main focus is on their family, Pharaoh Hounds main focus is the hunt. This varies of course from dog to dog, household to household, but in the main, I've found it to be true.

Ananka, a Pharaoh Hound, is almost totally focussed on the hunt when she's outside. She becomes deaf when there are little birdies taunting her. She loves Spring because that's when the birds drop their guard and get into mating ritual mode. Ananka has had many meals of starlings, turtle doves and sparrows in Spring over the years.

The Schnauzers aren't as fast or as focussed, but they still have hunting successes from time to time. Last summer one of our dogs caught and killed a one metre brown snake. I didn't see it happen, I just saw the two halves of the snake in the backyard. I don't know which dog did the killing either, they'd all been in the yard that morning. I kept an eye on them all day, ready to whiz them off to the vet if they looked sick, but they were all fine. Clever hunters, but I'd be happier if there weren't any brown snakes in the yard for them to kill! I'm over my phobia, but I still don't like snakes at our place.

Why do dogs bark?

Right now, I have three dogs inside with me, the rest of them outside. There are two dogs that barked within the last minute. They were both dogs currently outside. Why did they bark?
Kharis was at the door with his whinging let me in please bark. I know why he was barking. He knows that eventually he will be let back inside, and if he whines enough, he'll be let in sooner. Why does he know this? Because past experience has taught him that.
I'm OK with him barking like that, becuse he's a great dog and I love him dearly.
The other dog that barked was, I think Ananka, also a Pharaoh Hound. I think it's a fair bet that she was barking because she saw something. Pharaoh Hounds look at things a lot. More than Schnauzers do. PH's are constantly on the move, looking for things to chase and eat. They live to chase, just like a greyhound does.
Schn, on the other hand, do keep watch, but they're not as manic about it. Schn will chase things, but it's a bit of fun, not a near lifetime necessity. Ananka probably takes it to extremes though, Kharis doesn't chase anywhere as much as her.
He does have the chase instict more than a Schn though - this was proven when one time both Kharis and Ananka got loose with one of the Schn.
They all headed for our neighbour's fence, where their poultry are kept. I called and called all of the dogs, but only the Schn came back to me. I patted her and told her what a good girl she was, then locked her up safely, grabbed two leads and set about catching the PHs. It was not too hard, because they were so focussed on the chooks they paid me no attention - I could put leads on them with them hardly noticing. The hard bit was dragging them away!